It is amazing as to how there is a 'magic' in our mainstream national media. They can do and undo with equal finesse and alacrity. The moment a new government has come to power then so many things are being unearthed like murders, rapes, discord in general. This is a process of digging and excavation.

How about telling us as to what the agendas of the
new govt are, and how they will be implemented? Instead of Big
Fights, let us have smaller ones, where the voices of the former
impresarios are a little subdued, and we have lesser known mortals in
the fray!

Why is news today bordering so much on
sensationalism, jingoism? Why can't we cut across affiliations, and
gently listen to another's point of view, even if we disagree with
him or her? Why dissent, at every point, why not assent? Why there re
no stories about positive development? Is the country in a state of
perpetual dismemberment?

In
Focus

No sooner than the new government came to power, were
there political murders, rapes and even dissensions within. This is
what the media has to say. What is their authenticity or veracity?
Media reportage must be full proof and not only a dalliance with
rousing sensationalism! I am not saying that everything is concocted,
but what I am saying is that every day there are reports which only
create dissent, dissension and not assent.

Is there nothing 'good' in this country? If not,
then where is our collective wisdom? Why are we 'educated' and flaunt
our doctoral degrees? Unfortunately what we do not want is consensus,
what we want is animosity and acrid relationships at the political
and social levels.

Bludgeoning facts, assailing people mentally are
some of the mantras today. Watch any 'debate' on the channels.
Everything is noisy, personal and vindictive. No one seems to want to
listen to another's point of view though all of them speak with a
suave 'English accent'.

Now, media highlighting the almost clandestine
meeting between L.K. Advani and another imprisoned leader is another
instance of clever insinuation that- all is not well.

It is a diverse country we have, but in vast
diversity there are moral and intellectual strands of beauty. There
are good people who are silently working for a suffering humanity.
There are orphaned children and street children who are being
tethered.

What about these stories, are these not stories we
have to tell? And what could be more effective than the electronic
media? Why is it not used more for education? If CSR is not a myth
then why not practice it via the media, because private media houses
are akin to corporate houses?

If we really want positive outcomes in a morally
regenerative country then let us forget the 'whys' and look
discerningly towards the 'hows'.... the sensationalist 'magic' must
go. Playing to the galleries must go and pale towards an
insignificance, where might is not right, but right is right!

And that can only be done by self conscious
introspection and love - the 'Beloved Republic '. The protagonists of
self righteous truths must banish or vanish. What will school
children learn from all such 'reality' shows, that querulous nature
is the best form of behaviour? That, discord is better than accord?
That everything about the country is vile, corrupt and immoral? That
there is not even an iota of plenitude in our country? And all this
while we assert platitudes about education....

And that brings us to education. The media must be
provoked to give impetus to education in a holistic manner. Children
can view movies, but these should have a moral and artistic content.
The texts which they study in school must be 'seen', by this I mean
that many classics have been made into movies. The educational
policies must make the most of the private media, by transforming it
into more and more educational content, where everyone has access.

In short media content must have an educational
premium or bias, and not forever get enmeshed into the politics of
polemics. Young impressionable minds are vulnerable to wrong
influences. It is not my intention to categorize ethics into black
and white components of right and wrong. Very obviously the new media
is a watchdog, but in the process it should not bite itself.

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